n, a hawk alighted on the vessel, and one of the sailors
caught it when it was asleep.

To find out how fast we were going, the sailors threw the "log,"
which was no log at all, but a long thin rope with a small
three-cornered canvas bag at one end. They throw out the bag, and it
catches in the water and keeps the end of the rope steady. The rope
runs out as the ship goes. One sailor stands with a time-glass,
which holds as much sand as will fall in one minute from one half of
it into the other. The glass is turned just when a certain mark on
the rope passes over the rail, and, when all the sand has run, the
rope is stopped. As the rope has lengths marked on it by bits of
colored cloth, the sailors can tell how far the ship has gone in one
minute, and can roughly calculate from that its rate of speed by the
hour. Formerly a real log of wood was used instead of the bag.

The greatest event of the voyage was seeing a school of whales.
There were dozens of them spouting and showing their backs above
water. Another exciting thing was meeting a ship so near that we
could salute it, which is done by hoisting and then lowering the
flag once or twice. Ships have flags of different kinds, and each
has its own meaning. So by hoisting certain flags, the captains of
distant ships can exchange news.

When nearing the Irish coast, a dense fog settled upon us, so that
we could hardly see from one end of the ship to the other. All day
and all night the great fog-whistle was kept blowing to warn other
vessels that might be in our neighborhood. To see a light house or
landmark was impossible, but the captain found out where we were by
soundings. Every ship has a long piece of lead with a hole in one
end which is filled with tallow. The other end is fastened to a
rope, and the lead is thrown overboard and sinks to the bottom. When
hauled up, some of the sea-bottom is found stuck to the tallow, and
from this and the depth of the water, the captain knows where he is,
for the kinds of sand and mud at the bottom of the sea, and the
varying depths of water, are plainly marked on his charts.

I cannot describe to you what a welcome sight the land was, after
seeing nothing but water for so long. But when we had left the great
ship behind, it seemed almost as if we were leaving home, glad
though I was